Johnny Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas in 1935, but early in life he and his family moved to San Francisco, where they eventually put down roots. While Johnny was in high school and college in San Francisco he was a stellar athlete, accomplished in no fewer than four different sports with his most prolific achievements coming in track and field. Indeed many people thought that Johnny Mathis' name would one day appear on the marquees outside sports stadiums. However, as it came to be, Johnny Mathis proved to be an even better singer and entertainer than he was an athlete, and by the mid 1960s his name appeared in bold lights outside the most famous nightclubs, arenas and theatres in America.

Johnny Mathis began his music career when he was invited to sing with a Bay Area nightclub band. The owner of the club noticed his talent and decided to help Mathis pursue a career in music. Johnny sang for a number of clubs in San Francisco before he eventually broke from his athletic career to focus on singing full time, officially dumping with athletics when he turned down an invite to compete at the 1956 Olympic trials in the high jump. It wasn't long before the music industry fat cats were inundating him with offers. He signed with Columbia Records in '56 and moved to New York to begin what would turn out to be a long career in pop and adult contemporary music.

Although other artists like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole were more successful sales-wise and made a larger impression on the popular music scene, Mathis was still able to produce several singles and albums that soared in the charts. Mathis relied on the strength of his albums, rather than individual songs, to propel his career. Still, some of his signature tracks include "Wonderful! Wonderful!," "It's Not For Me To Say," "Chances Are," "The Twelfth of Never," "A Certain Smile," "Stardust" and "Too much, Too Little, Too Late."